Engagement Pays Off in Philippines Terror War
Engagement Pays Off in Philippines Terror War – Al Santoli, Washington Times.
… The recent captures and killings of feared Abu Sayyaf Group leaders in the southernmost Philippine islands, such as Sulu and Basilan, are part of the military’s success at using community engagement by local military units. Local intelligence tip-offs by community residents and the rejection of the ASG’s terror tactics by the vast majority of Muslim Filipinos have been the key to success.
In recent years, the U.S. military employed a civil-affairs-style approach to counterterrorism, especially the successful counterinsurgency strategy used by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander in Iraq and later U.S. Central Command leader, and being adapted in the current surge in Afghanistan. Even before U.S. forces used local engagement programs, allied militaries such as those in the Philippines were using similar techniques such as engaging with local communities…
More at The Washington Times.
It’s sad that this narrative, wildly oversimplified and in some places just wrong, is still being peddled. Probably inevitable, though: those who preach the pop-centric gospel must have a success to cite, and if they can’t find one they’ll make one.